On the spider SPOILER: ( I'm not sure he's pulling strings to back the dragon. He's largely been for every move that keeps the Realm stable (or at least as he believes at the time). He wasn't for Ned's death and was just as shocked as everyone when it happened - a critical blunder. He backed Joffrey for continuity and then backed Tyrion seeing him as a stabilizing force. He probably at least knew about Joff's death - if didn't do it himself, once it was clear he was basically another mad king. These and other moves are of someone who wants a stable Realm, not a divided one. My question is why? Why is he so married to the Realm? And I still don't get what Littlefinger's endgame is. )

SPOILER: ( I agree with what you said about him keeping the realm in tact, yet he just came back, killed Kevan Lannister because he [paraphrasing] "couldn't allow him to fix all the schisms Cersei's built into the realm". Completely undercuts the rest. )